Kickstarter

An update: The Annoyance Theater has reached its $50,000 goal on Kickstarter (with two weeks to go), a dollar figure that will be matched by Second City. Check out the related story by Nina Metz on the campaign and Annoyance's plans for a new space. (As well as Chris Jones' news item and an entirely unrelated list from Zanies.)

(Reuters) - All Zack Danger Brown wanted to do was make potato salad and find a few dollars for ingredients. He has amassed 4,000 supporters, and at one point on Tuesday, about $50,000 in financial support from a campaign on Internet fundraiser Kickstarter. "Basically I'm just making potato salad. I haven't decided what kind yet," the 31-year-old Ohio man wrote on the campaign page. He was initially asking for $10 to make the picnic side dish but word quickly spread...

After years of roving the city - including stints aboard an L car and other short-term sites - the Chicago Design Museum is looking to set down roots with a Kickstarter fundraising campaign that ends at 7 p.m. today. The nascent museum, which just signed a lease for space in the Block 37 building last week, is described by director Tanner Woodford as a “start-up” venture among the many cultural institutions in the city. The money raised will go to fund the museum's first...

A crowdfunding campaign for Rooster Teeth 's "Lazer Team" sci-fi comedy movie has raised a record $2.48 million from 37,497 funders in a month on the Indiegogo site. Indiegogo and Rooster Teeth said the campaign has surpassed the Indiegogo campaign for TV movie "Gosnell." The companies said the initial funding goal of $650,000 for "Lazer Team" was met within 10 hours of the launch of the campaign and reached $1 million dollars within the first...

The Internet has really done it this time. The most popular campaign on crowd-funding website Kickstarter.com on Monday was a potato salad. Really. Not a feature film or the latest tech gadget, but a mixture of potatoes and mayonnaise from the kitchen of an Ohio man named Zack Danger Brown. Brown started the campaign late last week with a lowly fundraising goal of $10 with a simple task ahead of him: "Basically I'm just making potato salad," he said. "I haven't decided what kind...

The Internet has really done it this time. The most popular campaign on crowd-funding website Kickstarter.com on Monday was a potato salad. Really. Not a feature film or the latest tech gadget, but a mixture of potatoes and mayonnaise from the kitchen of an Ohio man named Zack Danger Brown. Brown started the campaign late last week with a lowly fundraising goal of $10 with a simple task ahead of him: "Basically I'm just making potato salad," he said. "I haven't decided what kind...

(Reuters) - Kickstarter, the fundraising platform used by millions of people to raise capital for creative projects and businesses, said on Saturday that hackers had gained access to some of its customers' data earlier this week but that the breach had been repaired. "No credit card data of any kind was accessed by hackers. There is no evidence of unauthorized activity of any kind on all but two Kickstarter user accounts," Kickstarter Chief Executive...

Though LeVar Burton 's Kickstarter campaign for " Reading Rainbow " is far beyond its original $1 million goal, the literacy program has a new reason to shine. "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane has stepped in, promising to match another $1 million in donations to push the initiative past the $5 million mark. Burton's Kickstarter to bring back and revamp the beloved children's reading program went live in May , and met its initial goal...

When Zach Braff 's $5 million dramedy "Wish I Was Here" premieres Jan. 18, it will be one of 20 Sundance films funded through Kickstarter, alongside six financed via Indiegogo. As the number of crowdsourced films and budgets continues to grow (including the March 14 nationwide release of Warner Bros.' "Veronica Mars," which raised $5.7 million from fans alongside Braff's $3.1 million campaign), so do the questions: What's the impact of crowdsourcing on a film's...

The pitch for a floating entertainment center about a half-mile off Chicago's shore is gaining the public's support - and dollars. The crowdfunding campaign spearheaded by Plainfield native Beau D'Arcy to raise money for his multimillion-dollar project, Breakwater Chicago, reached its goal of $30,000 within about 36 hours last week, D'Arcy said. By Tuesday night, the campaign had received well over its goal with $38,180 pledged on Kickstarter. About half the...

The city of Chicago is turning to crowd funding website Kickstarter, hoping the novel fundraising platform that has launched thousands of creative projects will do the same for a hand-picked group of entrepreneurs and community groups. World Business Chicago, the city's economic development arm, is helping 11 small businesses and community organizations raise money on Kickstarter, a site where consumers can pledge money toward mostly artistic endeavors. The city's...

About a mile off Chicago's shore, a local businessman wants to create a floating city complete with sundecks, restaurants, a swimming pool and plenty of room for boats to dock. But before the first bottle of champagne can be uncorked on Breakwater Chicago, someone has to pay for the Lake Michigan oasis. Beau D'Arcy would like that person to be you. “Whether you're chipping in $1, $100, whatever you can do, when you go out to Breakwater, you'll have a sense of...

A veteran TV and film writer is trying his luck on Kickstarter to raise a whopping $2.5 million in support of a 10-hour miniseries about the Civil War. Michael Frost Beckner, whose credits include "Spy Game" and CBS series "The Agency," plans to unveil a campaign on the crowdfunding platform next week in support of "To Appomattox," which chronicles legendary generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. In support of the effort, Beckner calls on some notable...

May 29 (TheWrap.com) - LeVar Burton's instantly successful Kickstarter campaign to revive children's television series âReading Rainbowâ has renewed his âfaith in humanity.â âWaking up this morning, I'm filled with such gratitude, and optimism. It seems that our little Kickstarter has been able to corral the need for something good to be affirmed in the world,â...

Way to go, "Veronica Mars" fans. The V-Mars movie we've all been waiting for since the show went off the air in 2006 is happening. Creator Rob Thomas and star Kristen Bell (pictured together above) launched a Kickstarter Wednesday at roughly 10 a.m. to help fund the movie . The goal was $2 million. And that goal was met at just before 9 p.m., by just under 32,000 people. Thomas says in the Kickstarter that the more money the movie has,...

After years of roving the city - including stints aboard an L car and other short-term sites - the Chicago Design Museum is looking to set down roots with a Kickstarter fundraising campaign that ends at 7 p.m. today. The nascent museum, which just signed a lease for space in the Block 37 building last week, is described by director Tanner Woodford as a “start-up” venture among the many cultural institutions in the city. The money raised will go to fund the museum's first...

(Reuters) - World number three Henrik Stenson's bid to kick-start his 2014 campaign at this week's China Open has been hampered by a bout of flu. The Swede, who won the order of merit in Europe and the Tour Championships in the U.S. last year, has struggled to reach the heady heights so far this season and said he was not feeling his best ahead of the $3.2 million (1.9 million pounds) European Tour event starting on Thursday. "I am just kind of waking up to be honest...